


Crack open my heart for you

by BridgetMcKennitt



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Developing Relationship, Future Fic, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-05-23 21:00:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14941305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BridgetMcKennitt/pseuds/BridgetMcKennitt
Summary: Okumura would make a strong force for the Order against the demons from Gehenna, especially if he hated Satan. So why not turn that rage into clarity?





	Crack open my heart for you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [riventhorn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/riventhorn/gifts).



Ryuuji didn't know what to make of this creature named Okumura Rin. He graduated from his exwire status five years ago to become an exorcist, specifically an Aria and Dragoon Meister, and this was the first time he had seen anything like Okumura.

Instead of returning home to Kyoto after becoming an exorcist, Ryuuji stayed in Tokyo to increase his experience. He couldn't take over as head priest of his temple if he couldn't present himself as a head priest should be and there were plenty of demons in Tokyo to practice his skills on. But because there were plenty of demons, Ryuuji surrounded his home with charms and spells to entrap any demon and here was one just sitting there.

Sort of. Okumura was the strangest demon he had ever seen. His ears were elongated like a demon's, his tail whipped back and forth behind him in the trap, and there was a strange light in his eyes. Yet, unlike other demons who would have snarled and thrown themselves against the trap in an attempt to break, just sat there cross-legged and watched him. He had given his name and that was the only thing he had spoken since being trapped over an hour now.

Ryuuji holstered his gun before squatting down to meet Okumura's gaze. "Why are you here, demon?" He realized at that moment there was a growing stain of blood on Okumura's shirt and Ryuuji growled. The idiot was bleeding out and he was acting like it wasn't even happening. "Heal yourself before you die."

"I'd love to, but that's never been my specialty. Pretty sure it's yours though." Okumura gave him a cheeky grin before he slipped into unconsciousness, crashing onto the ground with a loud thunk.

Ryuuji just stared at him for a few moments. What just happened? Even though everything within him warned him not to trust the demon, there was also something abouut him that gave him pause. Perhaps he would help Okumura recover just enough before getting him to answer some of his questions.

He clasped his hands together and began chanting. Just because Okumura was bleeding out didn't mean he was going to drop his guard. His Aria lifted Okumura into the air and he took him into his home. There was a room where Ryuuji kept most of his exorcist items, along with warding it heavily so it'd work well enough for a makeshift cage. He set Okumura down in the middle of it, tying his wrists and ankles with magical chains, and began to examine him.

Ryuuki peeled back Okumura's shirt and saw that he was bleeding heavily from a stomach wound. What caused such a wound? It looked like it came from claws. No matter at this point. Now he had to stop the bleeding before Okumura died from it.

He grabbed a pouch off his shelf filled with powder that'd help stop the bleeding and begin closing the wound. It was expensive, but it would do the job, and so Ryuuji poured some of the powder into his hand before rubbing it against Okumura's wound. The blood around the wound bubbled and Ryuuji let out a sigh of relief before wrapping a bandage around it. With that under control, he began examining the rest of Okumura.

Okumura was pale, far more than Ryuuji expected from a demon, which meant that he'd been bleeding for quite some time before he stumbled onto his trap. What had he been running from? Ryuuji cupped Okumura's face as he stared down at him. Okumura didn't feel like evil like most of the demons he had encountered. Not truly. So why was Okumura so different?

Making sure that his wards were locked tight, Ryuuji got up to get a bowl of water and some towels. He had a lot of questions for this demon when he woke up again.

It took a full day before Okumura stirred from his slumber. Ryuuji watched him from a chair in the corner of the room, waiting to see when the demon would notice his presence.

Okumura's eyes fluttered his eyes opened and he groaned as he pushed himself up to a sitting position with his arms. Several minutes went by before Okumura noticed him and he startled at the sight of him. "Whoa, I was right to trust you. You saved me."

Ryuuji snorted. "Barely. I have questions and I want them answered. You told me your name, but not who you are. So who are you? You're not like other demons I've met before."

Okumura grinned, showing off his sharp teeth, as his tail flicked back and forth. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm as demonic as demons go. See?" He attempted to stand up and stumbled back down as he yelped from pain.

"You're not completely healed, you're just not at death's door. So try again, Okumura. I want the truth. Who are you?" Ryuuji curled his prayer beads around his hands. "Don't make me force the answer out of you."

"So bossy. Are you sure you want the answer? I don't even like the answer. It's haunted me all my life." The look in Okumura's eyes were haunted and Ryuuji wondered if this was a good idea after all. Before he could respond, suddenly blue flames surrounded Okumura and Ryuuji was thrown back to the horrors of his childhood.

Blue Night.

This demon was related to Satan in some way.

 _I should have let him die,_ was Ryuuji's thought and he felt a sliver of fear race through him. _I'm going to die._

Then, just as quickly as they appeared, the blue flames vanished and Okumura remained as he was. Ryuuji let out his breath and tried to control his trembling. Even standing before the blue flames that killed so many of his temple, he wasn't going to show his fear.

Okumura laughed, but to Ryuuji's ears, there was a tinge of bitterness to it. "I didn't want these flames and the chaos they bring. I lost everything because of them."

It sounded like the truth, but demons lied. Either way, Okumura was someone he needed to report to the True Cross Order. Blue flames had not been seen since he was a child and Blue Night occurred and now there was a demon walking around with them.

"I lost a lot because of those flames, too," Ryuuji finally said as he got to his feet. "So you're going to remain here until I figure out what to do with you." He wasn't sure if his wards could hold against Satan's blue flames, but he was going to strengthen them as much as he could to prevent Okumura's escape.

"I like that plan. I haven't slept under a roof since I ran away from home as a teenager." Okumura winced and his hand pressed against his stomach. "Think you can help me over here? I think I opened my wound."

There was a spot of blood through the bandage and Ryuuji gritted his teeth. He couldn't report anything to anyone if Okumura died in his home. "Put your hands behind your back and don't try anything stupid." Once Okumura did as he asked, Ryuuji chanted a mantra to bind Okumura's wrists together on top of his chains. Again, in the back of his mind, he wondered if that was enough to contain Satan's blue flames, before he pushed it aside. He refused to be afraid.

He gathered his healing supplies and began changing Okumura's bandages. Okumura didn't move as he did it, didn't even say a word until Ryuuji was done and stepped back. He thought about leaving Okumura's wrists tied before releasing the restraints. If Okumura wanted to escape or kill him, there was no stopping him when he had blue flames on his side. So, against his better judgement, he was going to have to trust Okumura somewhat. There was nothing else he could do. Either Okumura was going to escape or he wasn't.

"Despite your rough hands, you're pretty gentle. Thank you."

"Don't thank me. I'm reporting you to the True Cross Order. They'll know what to do with the likes of you."

Okumura let out a laugh. "While you do that, say hi to my twin brother for me. Oh, don't worry, he's as human as they come, but he was an exorcist when I ran away. Probably rose up in the ranks since."

Ryuuji stared at him. This demon had a twin brother who was an exorcist? A human brother? Did that mean he was human along with being a demon? It wasn't unheard of. Many people had demonic ancestors in their lineage, but none quite someone like Satan. "What's his name?"

"Okumura Yukio. Our adopted father was Fujimoto Shirou in case Yukio changed his name since I last saw him."

Ryuuji jerked as if he'd been slapped across the face. Okumura Yukio, his teacher when he went to cram school, was this demon's brother? _Fujimoto Shirou_ , the former Paladin, was Okumura's adopted father? This left him with more questions than answers and he wasn't sure if he was ready to handle them right now. Ryuuji nodded curtly before leaving the room. Perhaps Okumura's brother could answer his questions.

*

Ryuuji found Okumura Yukio and contacted him, but in the end did not tell him about his brother. He instead pretended that he was reaching out to his former teacher for some pharmacology advice. When Okumura Yukio asked him pleasantries about his fammily, Ryuuji asked in return about his family, wondering what he'd say.

"Ah, I'm afraid it's been just me for years. My father passed away when I was a teenager and my brother ran away, unable to bear the tragedy." Okumura Yukio paused a few moments. "I hope my brother is alive, but I don't know for certain."

"My condolences for your loss and I am sorry to bring up such pain," said Ryuuji.

"Ah, it's not a problem. I've dealt with this loss already. I hope I was able to answer your questions on pharmacology. It's been awhile since I've taught the subject at cram school."

"You have, most definitely. Thank you again." When they hung up, Ryuuji leaned back in his chair. So Okumura wasn't lying about that. Why did Okumura land on his doorstep instead of going to his brother? His brother lived nearby and if Okumura knew that Ryuuji was an exorcist, it wouldn't take much to find his brother either.

He returned to Okumura's room and found him staring at the wall while his tail twitched back and forth. None of his wards had been tampered with, so Okumura didn't even attempt to escape.

"Why are you here? How are you related to Satan?"

Okumura flicked a glance at him before returning his gaze back to the wall. "I hate that guy. He killed my father and wanted to drag me to Gehenna, so I've been living on the streets since. I'm the spawn of Satan and inherited his stupid blue flames."

"That makes the two of us. I hate Satan, too. So why are you injured?"

"Oh, this? I was fighting against some demon with claws. Satan or someone associated with him have been looking for me for years. I managed to kill the demon, but he got me pretty good." Okumura patted his stomach. "Thank goodness you saved my life. I thought I was a goner for sure."

More potential lies. Sure, sometimes demons fought each other, but Okumura's entire story sounded too good to be true. There was no way that Satan's son was on the side of good. But if he was against Satan, then perhaps he could use that. It was an outrageous idea, but a son of Satan used as a weapon against Satan was an interesting idea. Is that what Fujimoto had been planning? But he wasn't a high level exorcist, so that wasn't his decision. All he could do was report Okumura and suggest the idea.

"I'm going to make dinner. I'll bring you something to eat in a bit."

Okumura perked up at hearing that. "I love cooking. You should let me in the kitchen so I can cook."

"You're not leaving this room until the Order picks you up." To do that, he'd have to _tell_ the Order that Okumura was here, but Okumura didn't know that.

He walked out of the room and into the kitchen. It didn't take long to heat up ramen for the both of them and Ryuuji brought the bowls into the room. He knelt down and slid one of the bowls towards Okumura along with some chopsticks. Okumura picked it up and gave his thanks.

Ryuuji grunted as he sat back on his knees to dig into his own bowl of ramen. It was just the microwaveable kind, but it was enough to sustain him.

"I can't believe you eat this." Apparently it wasn't good enough for demons and Ryuuji looked up from his bowl to stare at Okumura. "It's terrible. Don't exorcists make enough money to have better food?"

"I'm not a cook, so you take what I give you."

"Ah, but I am." Okumura raised his hands in front of him. "These hands are magic when it comes to food. You'll never want to go back to instant ramen ever again."

Ryuuji wasn't tempted by the offer and told him so. "I don't trust you, so you're staying right there until the Order arrives."

"I could break out of here, you know. Yeah, I bet you know that." Okumura's eyes glowed with blue fire and Ryuuji's fists clenched. "But I also think you didn't call the Order, otherwise they'd be here by now. So why the change of heart?"

"There's no change of heart." Ryuuji needed to distract Okumura and quick. "What I'm wondering though is why Fujimoto Shirou adopted you instead of killing you the moment he found you? What did he see in you?"

The fire died away, leaving Okumura looking like a broken man. Ryuuji had never seen a demon look so lost and full of despair before and it tugged at his heart strings.

"I don't know! I still don't know to this day why he didn't just kill me in my crib, but he took my brother and I in and loved us as his own. He was my father, not _Satan_." Anger now in his voice as it laced every word and he jumped to his feet. "Satan took my father away from me. I didn't even know who I was until that day and the old man gave his own life to protect me as Satan tried to drag me to Gehenna. I hate Satan and I hate that I've been running ever since because of him. So go ahead and turn me in to the Order. It's not you guys are worse than the demons who want capture me to get rewarded by Satan."

This was completely a surprise and Ryuuji was taken back by it. Was it true? It was too impossible to not be true and Ryuuji began thinking furiously. Okumura was untrained, yes, but what if he _could_ be trained... to become an exorcist? What if that was Fujimoto Shirou's plan for raising Okumura? His brother was an exorcist, so it wasn't out of the question.

"You know, you're right. I don't think I'm going to call the Order, after all. Not yet." Not until he figured out what to do about Okumura. "Finish your ramen so I can change your bandages again."

Okumura stared at him for several moments before sitting back down. "Fine."

*

It took Ryuuji an entire day to think his plan through and, by the time he decided it was the right course of action, he knew he was in over his head. Okumura would make a strong force for the Order against the demons from Gehenna, especially if he hated Satan. So why not turn that rage into clarity? But Ryuuji knew he couldn't just offer his idea to the Order without some sort of guarantee, which meant he needed to teach Okumura how to become an exorcist.

Convincing Okumura of that idea wasn't the hard part. Before Ryuuji had even finished explaining his idea, Okumura was agreeing wholeheartedly. The hard part, after weeks of trying, was teaching Okumura.

Ryuuji growled as he fought the urge to throw his textbook at Okumura's head. "How are you so dumb? Any first year Exwire would have understood this theory."

Okumura tugged at his hair as he let out a yell. "It's not my fault I haven't been in school for years! Even when I was in school, I was never very good at it. Don't blame me."

"I do blame you. This plan doesn't work if you can't pass exorcist exams. I have to show the Order that you're more than a demon that needs to be exorcised." Ryuuji took a deep breath as he sat down next to Okumura, unaware that their shoulders pressed against each other. "Okay, new tactic. Think about rot demons. What are they weak against?"

"Oh, I know this." Okumura furrowed his brow in thought and Ryuuji wondered how he was ever afraid of him. There was a charm in Okumura that made him want to trust him, even though he knew he shouldn't. "It's fire, isn't it?"

"That's correct, and why is that?"

Okumura poked his finger on the circular chart at the rot demons. "Because this says so. It's like one giant game of rock, paper, scissors."

That wasn't quite how Ryuuji would define it, but as long as Okumura understood the concept, he wasn't going to complain. He continued testing Okumura about demons' elemental weaknesses until he was satisfied with the results.

"Hey, I'm famished. Think you'll let me out of this room so I can cook for us?" Another of Okumura's grins and a wag of his tail. "You can watch me, but I don't think I can stand another day of your terrible cooking. Let me show you a whole new world of eating."

There was a flutter in Ryuuji's stomach and it took him a few moments to realize what it was. He was slowly trusting Okumura, sure, but it was more than that. He was finding himself becoming more and more attracted to Okumura and that was what drove Ryuuji to ignore Okumura and march out of the room.

Okumura cried out, "Hey!" but Ryuuji couldn't be around him right now, not when he needed to process his feelings. He couldn't even believe there were some semblance of feelings to begin with.

Ryuuji pressed his palms down against the counter as he took in a couple of deep breaths. Whatever he was feeling wasn't real. It couldn't be. He had spent the last few weeks locked in the house with only Okumura as the only other person he'd seen in that span of time, so maybe this was because of the forced time together? It had to be a temporary feeling.

He lifted a hand to rub it against his face, trying to steady himself. All he had to do was continue Okumura's training, present him to the Order, and then never see him again. It wasn't going to be easy, but nothing in his life ever was and the goal was too important to give up on. He needed to push through this.

When he felt steady enough, Ryuuji returned to Okumura's room. Okumura stood within the ward just staring at him like he was contemplating something. Not that it mattered as Ryuuji cleared his throat.

"I think it's time I take you outside to see how you are with exorcising demons. Have you figured out what type of Meister you want to be?"

"Maybe. You once told me that my father held several Meisters, but the one that calls to me is becoming a Knight. I feel like I'd be good with a sword. What do you think?" Okumura wiggled his fingers at him.

Ryuuji stared at Okumura's fingers and gulped. He hadn't realized that Okumura had nice looking fingers and he tore his gaze away. "Yeah, that sounds good. I have a sword somewhere for you to use. Ah, but there's something else I have to do. Give me your wrist."

"I'm not going to escape if that's what you're thinking. I want to become an exorcist and defeat Satan with you." Okumura held up his wrist towards Ryuuji.

Ryuuji nodded sharply. "We will." He took Okumura's wrist into his hands and began chanting a mantra. If Okumura really wanted to escape, he could as nothing could defeat those blue flames, but he appreciated Okumura's trust in him as well as letting Ryuuji believe he had the upperhand. A ward settled around Okumura's wrist and Ryuuji stepped back.

"I'll be right back. I'm going to go grab that sword."

Even though he somewhat trusted Okumura, it was nerve wracking to take Okumura outside of his home and onto the streets. The world lately had gotten more dangerous. Ryuuji didn't know why there were more and more demonic attacks, but there were and Okumura was needed now more than ever.

"There's been an increase of ghouls crawling around the streets and we're going to exorcise them." Ryuuji didn't know why there were so many demons revealing themselves to the public, but that question for the higher ups at the Order. "Do you think you can control your flames?"

"I've been doing so for the last few years. More or less anyway. I'm not that great with fine control, but I can blast just the enemies I want."

"How about you keep your flames hidden and try to use just the sword? Think of it as an exercise in control." Ryuuji couldn't help but laugh when Okumura scowled. "Let's go."

It didn't take long to find a pack of ghouls and Ryuuji began chanting as Okumura raised his sword and rushed them. Despite the increase of ghouls, they were the perfect demon for Okumura to practice on because they weren't that dangerous. Ghouls were slow, didn't consume human flesh, and didn't possess powers. Ryuuji knew the ghoul's fatal verse, but the sword he loaned Okumura was made from holy silver and could kill the ghouls as well, if Okumura had the skills necessary to do it.

It was clear that he was a beginner when it came to using the sword, but the way Okumura moved against the ghouls was beautiful. He ducked and twisted around the ghouls as he swung his sword. Between the two of them, they exorcised the pack of ghouls and Ryuuji leaned against Okumura as Okumura whooped his excitement.

"That was so much fun! I can't wait to become an exorcist." Okumura turned his head towards Ryuuji and he looked so beautiful that Ryuuji couldn't help but lean in and pressed his chapped lips against Okumura's lips.

Okumura didn't even hesitate as he kissed Ryuuji back. He wrapped his arms around Ryuuji and kissed him with the same enthusiasm as he had when he was fighting the ghouls.

What were they doing?

Yet they didn't stop kissing until a noise startled the both of them out of their embrace. It was just a cat, but it enough to bring reality crashing down around Ryuuji. What was he doing? This was a son of Satan and Ryuuji's purpose in life was to find a way to end Satan. But Okumura stood there, still with a big grin on his face, and Ryuuji could only see someone that he was slowly considering a friend. Maybe, after the kiss, something more than a friend.

Ryuuji cleared his throat. "Let's go home. You have lots more to learn."

"I'm going to finally cook for you. No excuses." Okumura's hand reached out for his and Ryuuji let him intertwine their fingers together.

He didn't know what he was doing, but for once in his life, he was just going to wing it and see where it led him.

"Yeah, I can do that."


End file.
